Man Man @ Union Transfer.

Image by Stephen Craford. Text by Dana Lucchine.

Imagine the heartrending scratchy voice and piano-banging of Tom Waits. Add in intermittent electronic noise, tribal rhythms, confetti and a touch of feral screaming.

Then, just start dancing.

That’s the music of hometown heroes Man Man, who graced the stage of Philadelphia’s Union Transfer last Saturday, playing a sold out show to a crowd of enthusiastic fans and their significant others.

Mixing new jams with well-known and beloved favorites, the band once again proved how much fun live music can be. There were sing-alongs and face paint, crowd surfers and drunk girls to welcome the boys home.

Frontman Honus Honus began the show in a dress and left it in sparkles. He compelled the crowd to dance, and every single person (except the huge guys in front of me) obliged.

As if enthralling audiences is part of his daily life (it is), Honus burst with heartache and an energy rarely seen on stage nowadays. While he stuck primarily with his piano on this particular night, his bandmates pulled out all the stops and found rhythm in everything, including audience members’ shaking key rings.

I couldn’t even identify half of the instruments they had up there but, for reference, there was a handmade percussion instrument built out of bicycle. So yeah, things got weird.

A real Philadelphia treasure, Man Man is internationally known for its live shows. While the records are great, the concerts – especially the Philly concerts – are in a whole other category. The drummer’s first move, before even sitting down at the drum kit, was to take off his pants – because he knew it would be that type of show.

This band and the city have a deep connection, each fiercely missing the other when tour dates interfere. But when they’re finally reunited? Nothing’s sweeter.